The story of a game changer

"Finally, an airport we can all be proud of."

The New Manila International Airport worth P740 billion on a 2,500-hectare flatland is considered the most meaningful development in the country. It has four runways – and its own story to tell.

The aerotropolis which has been labelled as a game changer was actually conceived 17 years ago during a meeting called by San Miguel Corp.’s Danding Cojuangco and Ramon S. Ang. That meeting was attended by Fernando Poe, Jr., Senator Edgardo Angara, Tessie Aquino-Oreta and Gregorio Honasan.

Much earlier, Ang, who thought of the idea, had been coming up with statements that there were alternatives to the problem besetting the main gateway to the Philippines, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. It had become so congested that it would take 30 to 60 minutes for flights to take off and depart. NAIA was considered one of the airports in the world, Santa Banana!

There were talks that San Miguel was considering Cavite as the site of the new airport. But this did not materialize.

According to Senate President Tito Sotto, who pushed for the passage of a 50-year franchise bill for the Bulacan international airport, that meeting was actually called to persuade FPJ to run for president against then-incumbent Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in the 2004 polls, with the thought that he would be a sure winner.

The envisioned international airport did not push through because San Miguel did not know yet its exact location. But, soon enough, it was decided that it should be a flatland in the town of Bulakan by the sea. Some fishermen’s villages would have to be relocated.

Under the Senate bill that passed, an aerotropolis would last 50 years. The San Miguel subsidiary that would handle it would be exempted from taxes during the 10-year period of construction, development, establishment and operation. Under the approved franchise, the new airport would also be exempt from income and real estate taxes until it has fully recovered its investment cost.

It would be required to remit to the government any amount in excess of the annual 12-percent international rate of return. For many Bulakeños, this is a dream come true, but as envisioned by Ang and Cojuangco, the projected date of the start of construction did not materialize. The Finance Department wanted San Miguel to show its financial ability to undertake the aerotropolis. There was also a need for assurance that this airport would not adversely affect the viability of the government-financed Clark International Airport.

Soon after, the concerns of the DOF were addressed. The construction of the aerotropolis would begin this month. San Miguel also has other plans to ensure access to the airport, which is about 50 kilometers northwest of Manila. According to plans, San Miguel would build a superhighway and a railroad.

According to Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, the new international airport would be a game-changer because “we can come up with a facility that will compete with the world-class airports of the world and Asia.”

The construction of the New Manila International Airport was supposed to start last June but this was postponed because the Department of Finance wanted to ensure that all questions would be answered.

San Miguel also plans to employ about a million workers for the entire project. To ensure that the management of the airport would be in the hands of experts, SMC would also engage the services of a world-class airport manager.

Because the new international airport is an unsolicited project, it went through a so-called Swiss challenge – but nobody challenged it. As for equity, SMC would like to tap local and foreign equity and rely on debt financing. In fact, the passenger capacity of the new international airport would be as much as 10 times the capacity of NAIA.

Santa Banana, since I am already 93, I hope I would live long enough to see an international airport we can truly be proud of. I must confess that in my travels abroad, I get envious and embarrassed because I am able to compare the state of our airport with those of other countries.

Congratulations, San Miguel and its visionary president and chief operating officer, Ramon S. Ang!

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At the House of Representatives, there is a pending bill which has passed the committee level. It grants the Bulacan international airport the status of a special economic zone like Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority. This would be great for the airport as this would help attract locators and investors who would be eager to partake of the benefits for those in economic zones.

We have seen what has become of Subic, a bustling zone.

With the grant of a 50-year franchise by the Senate to the Bulacan aerotropolis, Central Luzon could be well developed, as well. The construction of this airport would be a game changer, indeed.